Christ-centered thoughts and studies

Devotional: ‘The Kingdom That Will Endure Forever’

Daniel 2:31 “Your Majesty looked, and there before you stood a large statue—an enormous, dazzling statue, awesome in appearance. 32 The head of the statue was made of pure gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, 33 its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of baked clay. 34 While you were watching, a rock was cut out, but not by human hands. It struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and smashed them. 35 Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were all broken to pieces and became like chaff on a threshing floor in the summer. The wind swept them away without leaving a trace. But the rock that struck the statue became a huge mountain and filled the whole earth.”

Is the world out of control? Where is this world headed? Those are just a couple of the questions many are asking. As we have seen in our study this week, King Nebuchadnezzar had a dream of a great statue that was eventually destroyed. What did his dream mean? That was what he asked his wise men and as it turns out, only God was able to answer.

Here is a brief explanation of his dream. The great statue represented the four great kingdoms of man:

Head of gold – kingdom of Babylonians – (606 – 538 BC)

Chest of silver – kingdom of the Medes and Persians – (538 – 333 BC)

Belly and thighs of bronze – kingdom of the Greeks – (333 – 44 BC)

Feet of iron and clay – kingdom of Romans – (44 BC – 476 AD)

As great as each of these kingdoms were, none of them endured the test of time. Each eventually fell in defeat. Scripture seems to indicate that in the end, a ruler known as the antichrist will try to reestablish the Roman Empire and turn it into a world-wide kingdom. Yet this kingdom will also be destroyed. As Daniel interpreted Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, he told the king –

Daniel 2:44 “In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever.

The kingdom of Christ is the rock that comes and crushes the statue. We read these words from the book of Revelation concerning the return of Christ and the establishment of His kingdom – “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.” (Revelation 11:15)

Why have I taken the time to go into such a deep study this week? My primary purpose is to remind us that no kingdom of this earth will stand. Our hope is not in the kingdom of men, but in the kingdom of God.

I close with the last prayer recorded in the Bible – ‘Come Lord Jesus. Amen’ (Revelation 22:20)